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Overview

"The most useful, well-written, and emotionally compelling business book I have read in years. I couldn't put it down." - Robert I. Sutton, Stanford Professor and author of The No Asshole Rule

"A must-read for every leader in their field." - Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of To Sell is Human

Incivility is silently chipping away at people, organizations, and our economy. Slights, insensitivities, and rude behaviors can cut deeply. Moreover, incivility hijacks focus. Even if people want to perform well, they can't. Customers too are less likely to buy from a company with an employee who is perceived as rude. Ultimately, incivility cuts the bottom line.

In MASTERING CIVILITY, Christine Porath shows how people can enhance their influence and effectiveness with civility. Combining scientific research with fascinating evidence from popular culture and fields such as neuroscience, medicine, and psychology, this book provides managers and employers with a much-needed wake-up call, while also reminding them of what they can do right now to improve the quality of their workplaces.

Product Details

About the Author

Christine Porath is Associate Professor of Management at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Porath travels the world working with leading organizations such as Google and the International Monetary Fund to help them solve the vexing problem of incivility.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Stakes: The High Costs of Incivility and the Potential Gains of Civility

Chapter 1 Clueless 9

Chapter 2 Sidelined 14

Chapter 3 Civility Buys Everything 26

Chapter 4 The Incivility Bug 38

Part II Civility Checkup: How You Are Doing and How You Can Improve

Chapter 5 Are You Civil? 49

Chapter 6 The Fundamentals 68

Chapter 7 Judge Not 81

Chapter 8 Give More 96

Chapter 9 Practice E-civility 108

Part III Lift Your Organization: Cycle to Civility

Chapter 10 Recruit 121

Chapter 11 Coach 131

Chapter 12 Score 142

Chapter 13 Practice 151

Part IV Lift Yourself: Handling Incivility if You're the Target

Chapter 14 Your Antidote to Incivility 163

Conclusion 177

Acknowledgments 181

Tools: Additional Actions to Become Your Best, Most Civil Self 185

Actions and Impact for Your Group and Organization 187

Notes 191

Recommended Resources 219

Index 223

Editorial Reviews

10/17/2016Porath, a Georgetown University management professor, insightfully explores workplace interactions in this useful, practical guide to countering incivility in its many forms. Seeking to foster more positive company cultures, she stresses that how people treat each other at work matters, telling corporate leaders that bad behavior can even affect the bottom line. She divides the book into four sections, variously concerning the “high costs of incivility,” initiating “civility checkups,” instilling civility into corporate culture, and deflecting personally directed incivility. She explores rudeness’s deleterious effects on health and productivity and the rewards civility can bring for both company and employee. She also details the phenomenon one physician dubs “brain burn”—the long-lasting effects of experiencing or observing unpleasant behavior. Of particular relevance is a chapter on self-assessment, which includes an easy-to-complete checklist for addressing one’s weak points. It also details seven strategies for coping with incivility, including soliciting feedback, hiring a coach, training oneself to read emotions better, and making self-care a priority. This book will arm readers with the tools they need to move from defeat to empowerment and prompt change in the workplace. Agent: Lorin Rees, Rees Literary Agency. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Christine Porath covers major issue facing businesses and society today. In MASTERING CIVILITY, learn what incivility is costing leaders and organizations and what to do about it. Along with being a fascinating read, this book offers the key to a healthier, happier, more productive workplace, better customer relationships, and higher profits."-Marshall Goldsmith, the Thinkers50 #1 Leadership Thinker in the World

"In her important new book, Christine Porath incisively explores the epidemic of incivility that has infected our workplaces and lives. But rather than simply decry the disease, Porath offers bright, brilliant suggestions for a cure. For anyone troubled by our current culture of coarseness-and that should be all of us-MASTERING CIVILITY is the right book at the right time. It is a must read for every leader in every field."-Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of Drive and To Sell is Human

"Backed up with real science and compelling stories, MASTERING CIVILITY powerfully illuminates why the smallest behaviors have the biggest effects on relationships, teams, and entire companies. Even better, Dr. Porath provides practical, proven steps to diagnosing yourself and your environment and a roadmap to building a better workplace, and a better you."-Laszlo Bock, Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google, and New York Times bestselling author of Work Rules!

"If you see rude people at work, this book is for you. Christine Porath shows that even just being near incivility is enough to shatter your focus and stifle your success, and offers practical insights for creating more humane organizations."-Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

"A brilliant, well-researched playbook on civility. Mastering these concepts is now far more essential in a networked world."-Tom Gardner, Founder/CEO of Motley Fool

"MASTERING CIVILITY is the most useful, well-written, and emotionally compelling business book I've read in years. I couldn't put it down. Porath blends uncommon commonsense, rigorous research, and terrible and wonderful stories to show what YOU can do to build and bolster a civilized and sane workplace."-Robert I Sutton, Stanford Professor and author of The No Asshole Rule

"Christine Porath makes a compelling case for mastering civility, and offers immediately actionable steps for infusing more of it into our work and lives."-Ed Lawler, Distinguished Professor at University of Southern California, and Director of the Center for Effective Organizations

"Research-based, filled with practical suggestions, summaries, and checklists, MASTERING CIVILITY offers the promise of reducing the enormous toll on both people and performance from bad behavior at work. Porath is passionate about creating more humane work environments, and has produced a profoundly insightful manifesto for doing so."-Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University and author of 14 books on power, leadership, and human resource management

"This book will arm readers with the tools they need to move from defeat to empowerment and prompt change in the workplace."-Publisher's Weekly

From the Publisher

12/01/2016Porath (management, Georgetown Univ.; coauthor, The Cost of Bad Behavior) has devoted her professional life to studying the cost of incivility in our workplaces and identifying the ways in which we can build positive work cultures that are good for people and good for businesses. In this book, she documents the costs of incivility for the individual and the company by focusing on what such behavior looks like, the actions that create both it and its counterpart, and the tools for thriving when confronted with incivility. Filled with examples from her research and consulting work as well as illustrations from the fields of management and neuroscience, Porath's manifesto invites readers to implement personal and institutional change. Key point summaries at the end of chapters, tools for becoming your best civil-self, and extensive resources are valuable additions. VERDICT Highly recommended. Porath's work will appeal to business, management, and organizational psychology students as well as general readers.—Jane Scott, Clark Lib., Univ. of Portland, OR

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace 4 out of 5based on
0 ratings.
1 reviews.

jmcgarry

More than 1 year ago

I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
Everyone wants civility in the workplace. People want to be treated fairly. The author makes the case that civility is good for the bottom line, and can make the workplace better. There are several tests in the book to determine how civil you are.
The book sounds like a lot of others I've read. It's good as far as it goes, but there are some things missing. For example, she recommends that employers ask prospective employees, "What would former employers say about you?" In many cases, the answer is, "They will only confirm dates of employment." Thanks to lawsuits, many employers are skittish about saying anything beyond that. Most companies won't go the trouble of deeper investigation.
Another area that doesn't go that far is in her chapter on what if incivility happens to you. Her advice is to focus on yourself and your situation. That's fine as far as it goes, but it doesn't address the situation when the incivility raises to discrimination or harassment. That requires focus on eliminating the problem, rather than simply focusing on yourself. That area was missing.
A minor issue. She uses Pete Carroll, coach of the Seattle Seahawks, as an example of civility in the NFL. After he left USC, the NCAA found significant recruiting violations had occurred during his time there. USC had to vacate several wins, including a national championship, and lost several scholarships. Reggie Bush gave back his Heisman Trophy. There was a sense that Pete Carroll got out of Dodge before the hammer fell. I don't think that was a good example.
Overall, a good book, just not complete.

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